Tour showcases city's newest affordable housing complex
This summer there will be approximately 216 new income-based, affordable apartments ready to lease in a location adjacent to San Marcos High School.
On Thursday, Mission DG, a Texas-based premier affordable housing developer and the San Marcos Housing Authority hosted a preview “hard hat tour” to introduce the development to the public.
According to Mission DG Partner Mark Tolley, it is the first affordable housing development of its kind in the city in five decades.
Lantana Apartments is termed a Class A development with what the developer described as high-quality architecture and construction.
The apartments sit on a 10-acre property located within the city at Rattler Road and Old Bastrop Road.
The apartments for lease will have a cost that is income-based, with a goal of being 100 percent affordable.
Scheduled to open this summer, the tour brought several key players to the site to promote the beginning of onsite leasing opportunities in advance of the completion of the apartments. Attending were Tolley; Lana Wagner, San Marcos Housing Authority; Timothy Deegan, Community Preservation Corporation; and Robert W. Johnson, U.S. Dept. of Housing & Urban Development, San Antonio Field Office The apartments are possible as a result of a working partnership between Mission DG and the San Marcos Housing Authority which has as its mission to work “hard to find safe and affordable housing for low income families, the elderly and disabled in the San Marcos area,” San Marcos Housing Authority Executive Director Lana Wagner said. “We are pleased to have a quality development like the Lantana.”
There will be one, two and three bedroom apartments available once construction is compete. The tour showed that one wing of the development is ready for leasing to qualified applicants who meet certain income requirements.
During the tour, visitors saw units with spacious closets and kitchens, with a pantry and extra storage closet–a rare find in San Marcos apartments. The development plans include a community kitchen, a pool, gym, and will be dog friendly with pet stations.
“The best things in San Marcos are getting even better,” Tolley said. “We focused on many details like stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, wood style flooring, ceiling fans in the bedrooms, full size washers and dryers in all units and walk-in closets and balconies in all units.”
Lantana residents will have access to various site-specific resources which will include “children’s programs, career placement and training, healthcare assistance services, GED and ESL programs, computer and financial literacy courses, and food assistance in coordination with the local FDA-approved pantry,” Tolley said.
Johnson said San Marcos is located in one of the fastest growing regions of the state, the area from Austin to San Antonio which some are referring to as “the next great megaplex.”
He said, “While that growth brings a lot of benefits, it also brings a lot of challenges particularly with affordable housing.”
This growth and the increase in rent and home prices that accompanies it, makes San Marcos a prime location for an affordable housing development.
Tolley said that apartment rents are on a sliding scale that range from 30 to 70 percent of a person's income, and will depend on some additional factors.
The apartments are designed to serve a wide demographic from singles living alone to families.
While unhoused people “are welcome to apply, there is an income limit that you have to make in order to qualify,” Wagner said. However, the goal is to knock out one of the contributing factors, Tolley explained.
“Homelessness is predicated by the lack of affordable housing to some degree. Some of it is mental health, some of it is substance abuse, but part of that equation is a lack of affordable housing. If people find themselves in a situation where they can’t find housing that meets their budgets, that starts the downward slide,” Tolley said.
“Yesterday marked the 55th anniversary of the signing of the Fair Housing Act by Lyndon B. Johnson who happened to go to college here in San Marcos at Texas State University,” Johnson said, noting that affordable housing is currently a primary focus of the federal government.
“The new administration has put a big emphasis on affordable housing. Marcia Fudge started the House America Initiative,” Johnson said.
As reported by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development website, the House America Initiative is using American Rescue Plan Act funding to address the homelessness crisis through a housing- first approach. This first development of its kind in 50 years signals a move for affordable housing in the community.
According to Tolley, Mission DG’s next project in San Marcos will be a 268-unit, independent senior housing development in the North part of town, now two years into its development phase.
“We plan to start construction on that before the end of the year. It’s based upon prior senior projects that we’ve built in San Antonio and Boerne, so it's a tried and true product that we’re thrilled to be introducing to San Marcos in partnership with the San Marcos Housing Authority,” Tolley said.
